I have two (for the second one see below) early 20th century postcards today, both of the fantastic Sunheri Masjid (Golden Mosque) in Chandni Chowk. The Iranian conqueror Nadir Shah ordered the slaughter of Delhi’s population whilst standing here in the 18th century and the so the mosque has become infamous in that regard. Indeed, the reverse of one of the postcards mentions just that – that the ‘historic’ mosque was where Delhi’s population was massacred.
What I am interested here is what the picture of the mosque can reveal about those who were photographing it (this follows on from my earlier post on postcard studios and publishers in Delhi). The first one, the ‘Historic Golden Mosque’ was photographed by Lal Chand and Sons. a company based in Dariba. The second which I think is actually a much more aesthetically rich picture with the bustling stalls, madrassa students in the background etc. is by M.L. Shagun Chand, another Delhi based company (this also has 'main native street' scribbled at the bottom). Along with postcards, these two studios published short guides on Delhi. They were cashing in on the global demand for postcards as well as the traveller circuit. However, both these studios were bested by a third agency called H.A. Mirza and Sons. This company was probably the most significant postcard publisher in Delhi and North India (I’m going to hold back writing about H.A. Mirza and Sons. for now, as they deserve a separate post).
What is interesting about the two images is that they aren’t part of the ‘monumentalisation’ of Delhi, a process which featured depopulated sites and empty buildings, rather these postcards capture a rich and bustling city and present us with information on its social and cultural life.
See you next Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment